Concert Review: Polo & Pan at The Imperial

By Dora Prieto

Photo by Akim Zongo

The Imperial
December 12, 2018

Photo by Akim Zongo

French electronica duo Polo & Pan brought warmth and chic vibes to The Imperial on a typical rainy Vancouver night. The pair builds strong techno beats with dynamic melodies, making music that is equally danceable as it is easy listening. Polo & Pan make psychedelic soundscapes, using simple techno and house beats to layer on melodies inspired by French, Brazilian, Egyptian music and more. They’re like the calm classy child of Skrillex and a Putumayo album.

Photo by Akim Zongo

The duo arrived on set and immediately launched into their classics, to the delight of a largely Francophone audience. Sweet and sultry hit melodies of tracks Ñana and Dorothy from the album Caravelle transitioned into more techno and bass heavy renditions.

Photo by Akim Zongo

The duos electronica yielded a more complex listening experience on the high-quality sound system, keeping the full range of sound and bass vibrations. However, other than the quality sound, the live experience is really just about the same as listening in your living room. Your living room plus a sound system and a few drunk 19 year olds making out next to you. DJ music always feels great live, but the performance itself is of careful technicians rather than a live instrumental experience.

Photo by Akim Zongo

That being said, they did take the opportunity to engage with audience when they sang their hit single ‘Canopée’. The crowd swayed emotively when Polo stepped in front of the DJ booth, singing and making gestures towards the ceiling, inviting the audience to imagine a beautiful canopy of Parisian elegance above. After the set, shouts of ‘encore’ and ‘plus, plus, plus’ were yelled across the venue, and the duo finished with a few unreleased tracks, to the delight of us all. A bientôt, Polo & Pan!